WHY the Mighty Have Fallen

"The mighty have fallen". This expression has been uttered many times throughout history , whether about David vs. Goliath, the US hockey team beating the Russians, Rocky beating Apollo Creed, or America beating the Limeys in The Revolutionary War. And while these examples can be seen as a positive, this phrase can be used in a negative context. Currently, this statement is probably the most valid for pro athletes, as these individuals have a tendency to decimate their millions and become broke, homeless, and alone. Look at greats such as Holyfield, Kosar, Dykstra, and Sprewell. It is difficult to say how someone can go from making around $400 million to being worth $700 (Iron Mike), but after further research it is rather obvious. They are uneducated (or undereducated - athletes who earn their college degree on the field instead of the classroom), naïve, unnecessarily flamboyant, and only see that stripper in their face, not their future. They also can’t invest for shit.

The reasoning behind this article is the shape that Allen Iverson and T.O. are in and what lies ahead. I mean look at these chosen ones. It’s amazing to see what athletes will do when they are humbled by being kept in shadows and broke. T.O. is catching balls from a QB who makes $250 a week in a vastly inferior Arena league and Iverson is debating on whether he will play ball in Puerto Rico, the land of Rum diaries, or playing indoor soccer (yea that is accurate) with the Rochester Lancers. I’m not sure which is more ridiculous, him playing soccer or that there is a pro basketball league in Puerto Rico. His contract would include $20,000/game and $5,000/goal for the Lancers. Kind of depressing for a league MVP, NBA leading scorer and in general a legend who hated to practice. As recently as the last decade, both TO and AI were gods and now they're being dethroned and beaten with the humility stick. One can only wonder what their lives would have been like if they could have foreseen their futures and understood that age is relative depending on profession. AI reportedly blew through $150 million during his career. That’s just fucking absurd, especially since he's only 36. I mean shit, the stress, pain, and mental anguish pro athletes deal with age them like a fucking dog but he thought he would somehow last forever.

While there are still a lot of individuals who play professional sports and are intelligent enough to not buy countless absurd objects that are guaranteed to depreciate in value (if not to be immediately valueless upon usage), there are still thugs who like to spend and damn the consequences. The reason for this is simple and ranges from being naive to downright stupid. Author Pablo S. Torre notes in his Sports Illustrated story How (and why) Athletes Go Broke that after two years of retirement, 78% of NFL players go bankrupt. Additionally, in the NBA, after five years of withdrawal from the league, an estimated 60% of players become broke. That is absurd when you think about how much they make.

  

Now there are certain aspects individuals need to understand when it comes to a player’s contract. It's not always their faults. When they receive a contract, they probably see in cash only about 10-20% of that after fees (agent, publicist, nutritionist, maybe a manager) and Uncle Sam. Therefore, these boisterous contracts are not felt in their entirety by the players - $20 million means $4 or $5 M when it's all said and done. Plus there are countless players who see only league minimums,  a couple hundred thousand for a few years before they're sent out to the corporate world where they lack experience in anything but football. Jobs are come to hard by, especially now. Especially for a guy who's a little punch drunk and never had to study too hard. Also, these players can occasionally be too trusting, sort of like a college girl who thinks you're special enough to be her first. These individuals don't understand how to handle their finances and eventually get bent over by other idiots pretending they know some shit or scumbags looking for prey. There are countless stories of pro athletes investing their money into inventions, stupid companies that quickly go bankrupt, and simply getting destroyed in the market because they were too lazy to read a fucking book and learn the nuances of how to properly invest or too trusting. These are valid arguments and do not necessarily reflect the actions of the players but ,in all honesty, these players lose their credibility when they become dead broke a few years beyond their playing days - and sometimes even during the end of their careers.

Bleacher Report came out with a great list of pro athletes who fucked the pooch: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/413661-straight-cash-homey-15-athletes-who-went-broke. It's evident that the most recognized reasons for the financial downfall are mistrust, poor investments, handouts, lack of foresight, bling, and child support. During the financial seminar for rookies, they need to start handing out a shitload of condoms.

If you read the article above, you'll notice the players decided to re-enact Pacman Jones and make it rain like a Seattle winter. Sure, Scottie Pippen and Bernie Kosar made some bad financial choices which are not fully their faults, but there are several individuals on that list who fucked up their reputations leading to either being traded away by their team and blacklisted, losing endorsements, breaking down after retirement, or just simply spending it all on dumb shit. Look at T.O., Allen Iverson, Latrell Sprewell, Mike Tyson; then look at those who lost future endorsements after retirement such as LT, George Best. These athletes thought they were worth more than they were offered, even late in their careers, were head cases that didn’t practice or choked out their coaches, or did something stupid off-field and served stints, and sometimes the prime of their careers in jail.

This economic collapse humbles these players. They look back at their careers and realize that they should have handled their financial endeavors differently, but they also realize they could have changed their job path; developed gifts in other industries; made themselves into businessmen who also play ball. These players asked for an absurd amount of money and left teams where they were safe. I’m sure if T.O. had handled his days in Philly, he wouldn’t be dead broke and demanding a decrease in his child support. The craziest aspect about all of this is that future players will not learn. They will continue to spend, let their egos negotiate, impregnate succubusses, and make bad financial decisions.

Failure is a big part of man's ambition, admittedly more than success. Because, unfortunately, there are many more people who fail than succeed and that's just the nature of the world, the wheat from the chaff as the saying goes. And even more, a lot of those successes become too proud, succeed too much, believe the hype and the ego to such a point that they fall and fail after succeeding but the gutters are much worse after you've reached the top of the hill.

It's funny these bastards always rant about making it rain. Because somebody needs to remind them that too much rain always leads to a flood that sweeps everything away.

- Kyle